Two Republican candidates, one running for statewide office and one vying for a House of Delegates seat representing a portion of the Roanoke Valley, visited ADMMicro on Tuesday to celebrate the homegrown, Roanoke-based company whose patented technologies for energy management promise continued growth even in the midst of a recession.

They were joined by state Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County, who is not facing an election this year.

The two candidates were Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, seeking re-election, and Bill Cleaveland, a lawyer in Botetourt County who is running against Democrat Gwen Mason for the
17th House District seat that will be vacated when Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, retires at the end of his term.

Both Bolling and Cleaveland described ADMMicro as a showcase company for successful entrepreneurship and the creation of jobs related to “green energy.”

The company was founded in 2001 in Roanoke by four electrical engineers once employed by American Electric Power.

ADMMicro’s products help big retailers, as well as other commercial and industrial customers, monitor, manage and cut energy costs — an appealing prospect for
businesses no matter the economic climate, but especially attractive when they face sagging revenues and rising energy costs.

Today, ADMMicro has 50 employees and occupies about 27,000 square feet of the 147,000-square-foot building near William Fleming High School that once housed Johnson
& Johnson’s Spectacle Lens Group.

Don Howell, president and chief executive officer, said “the building speaks for itself” when companies such as Target and Walgreens visit. Howell said he anticipates that
ADMMicro will hire between 10 and 15 people by the end of 2009 and a comparable number in 2010.

During the visit, Bolling outlined a host of proposals he described as “business friendly” and decried federal legislation that would establish a cap and trade program to
reduce pollution. He also expressed opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which could make it easier for unions to organize.